Barbara Dane & the Tammy Hall Trio 91st Birthday Celebration

Thursday, May 17th

Doors: 7:00 pm / Show: 8:00 pm

$40 PREMIUM / $25 ADV / $29 DOOR (plus fees)

A Premium ticket guarantees seating in the first 5 rows of the front, center section. Choice of seating within the Premium section is on a first-come, first-served basis on the night of the performance.

This career-spanning collection reflects over 60 years of the eclectic musical history of this “unsung hero of American music”(The Boston Globe) and offers unparalleled insight into the living legend cited as an inspiration by Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt, and whose own early mentors included Pete Seeger and Count Basie.

Now in her 90th year, Dane maintains "a jazz musician’s sense of rhythm, a blues singer’s deep investment in the material, and a folk stylist’s attention to authenticity” (The Boston Globe).

Harnessing the energy of someone half her age, she continues inspiring audiences as an outspoken and indomitable woman who fearlessly followed her conscience and is still going strong, free of regrets, with wit, wisdom and swing.

Barbara Dane was a rising star in the late 1950s, performing and recording with many of the greats of jazz and blues including Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines and Jack Teagarden. She counted Langston Hughes and Lenny Bruce among her fans and was the first white woman to grace the cover of Ebony Magazine. An activist since her teens in Detroit, she was outspoken in her views on race and social justice and was unwilling to make the kind of compromises demanded by the music business of the day.

Inspired by the intensification of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and the growing opposition to the Vietnam War, Dane turned away from the lure of fame and celebrity, striking out on her own path and dedicating her life to singing for peace and social justice. She shared the stage with Seeger, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs and Reverend Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick at numerous massive peace rallies in Washington D.C. and was acclaimed as “the voice of the other America” by European audiences, a symbol of opposition to the Vietnam War. In 1966, Barbara became the first American musician to tour post-revolutionary Cuba, and in the early 1970s, she founded the groundbreaking Paredon Records (now part of the Smithsonian Folkways collection) with longtime partner Irwin Silber, documenting the music of the 1970s resistance and national liberation movements worldwide. Praised as a “People’s Singer,” Dane has long been “a versatile voice with a political purpose” (NPR) and remains a “symbol of resistance” even into the 21st century.

“I hope my abiding love for our benighted country is apparent,” says Barbara, “along with my steadfast support of the people who suffer and struggle every day to keep it going. I hope you notice that it is possible to speak your mind to the world and still survive. Looking back over all these years of raising my voice, raising my children, raising some eyebrows, and raising hell wherever possible, I can assure you that although things look terrible right now, things do get better, sometimes even better than you can imagine! It will take time, and it surely will take plenty of struggle. But I promise you, the human race is moving in an upward spiral, not running around in circles or caught in a maze. Look up and keep pushing toward the sun of science and the stars of justice. You have only one life, so make it count!”

"A musician who has much to offer in the way of originality, fine technique and a rich, emotional quality that is evident on everything she does. Her playing is warm and persuasive and a listener's delight." - Marian McPartland, Piano Jazz